Container terminal gets a shipper: The announcement that a container shipping service is returning to the Port of Portland, even in its limited scope, is welcome news for the farmers and exporters who bore the brunt of the labor dispute that chased off shippers in the first place.

As The Oregonian/OregonLive's Mike Rogoway reported, Singapore-based Swire Shipping will begin calling at the port's Terminal 6 every 35 days starting in January, loading up trucks made by Daimler at its Portland location to take to overseas destinations. Terminal 6 has been idle since 2016, although service has been severely limited since 2015 when shipping giant Hanjin suspended its weekly calls.

The port, which has been managing the terminal since February when it severed ties with former manager ICTSI Inc., and the longshoreman's union now must show Swire and other shippers that Portland is open - and will remain open - for business. For too long, the disputes between workers and ICTSI persisted without regard for the collateral damage to Oregonians who depended on reliable service for their livelihoods.

Farmers, manufacturers and others were forced to seek costlier alternatives to get their products to markets amid an alleged work slowdown by longshoremen.

While it's unfortunate that it has taken years to resolve the conflict, the agreement, with Swire Shipping, finalized by Gov. Kate Brown on a recent trip to Asia, is a hopeful start for a new direction.

Wapato jail sold: The Multnomah County Commission's vote 4-1 this month to sell the Wapato jail for $10.8 million brings a sorry chapter in government mismanagement to an end. The $58 million jail, built in 2004 as a medium security correctional facility, never housed inmates as voters expected when they authorized bonds for construction. The problem? Multnomah County never set aside funds to operate the jail.

So instead it sat and sat and sat. Efforts to get the state and other jurisdictions to lease the jail went nowhere. In fact, the closest the facility came to being used as intended was as a backdrop for movies that needed a jail setting.

In recent years, some have argued that the jail could be converted for use as a homeless shelter. But county officials balked, saying it was too far from services and decried the message that they believed putting homeless people in a jail would send. While there were valid arguments against such a use, it's a poor reflection on the county's resourcefulness that they failed - or refused - to come up with any workable plan for using it. Even closed, it cost $300,000 a year to maintain.

The facility, bought by a Portland developer, is expected to be used as a distribution center for medical equipment, as The Oregonian/OregonLive's Anna Marum reported. The county plans to use the proceeds from the sale for affordable housing, a worthy and needed investment. But the sale itself isn't so much a success to celebrate as it is a relief to finally be done with it.